Apparatus for bleaching seed-cotton.



No. 884,359. PATENTBD APRQM, 1908-."

- I J. B.'BRENNAN.

APPARATUS FOR BLBAOHING SEED COTTON.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6, 1907.

Ewuenfop y I I I THE NBRRIS PETERS cm. WASHINGTON. n. c.

JOHN B. BRENNAN, OF SHERMAN, TEXAS.

APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING SEED-COTTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application filed October 5, 1907. Serial No. 396,106.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. BRENNAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sherman, in the county of Grayson and State of Texas,have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forBleaching Seed-Cotton, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to an apparatus and process of treating seedcotton as it passes from wagons to the cotton storage ouse, or after thecotton has been deposited in bins within the house, to bleach or whitenthe same; and relates particularly to means for subjecting the cotton tothe action of a gaseous medium which will operate to bleach or whitenthe same, thus increasing the market value thereof.

The bleaching medium employed may be atmospheric air which has beensubjected to the action of an arc or flaming discharge of eleptricity,sulfur fume or other suitable bleaching compound, produced either byelectrical or chemical means. K

The object of this invention is not to claim broadly any articularbleaching compound, but to rovi e means by which any suitable or welknown bleaching medium may be brought in contact with seed cotton,subjecting it to action of the bleaching element for regularpredetermined intervals as -it is carried 'along within a conveyer, orafter it has been deposited in bins within a storage house.

In former applications filed by me, one on the 28th. day of May, 1907,Serial No. 376,183, and the otherfile on the 15th. day of July, 1907,Serial No. 383,753, apparatus for bleaching lint cotton as it passesfrom gins is described and shown, but these do not include means forbleaching seed cotton. It is the object, therefore, of the present aplication to include this feature. By bleachlng cotton before it isinned the beneficial effects are shown not on y on the lint, but also onthe linters, hulls and meats, giving all, at one operation, a moredesirable color and propor tlonately increasing their market value.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood, I haveillustrated in the accompanying drawing apparatus for carrying out myprocess.

In the said drawing, Figure 1, is a perspective view in elevation of thedevice, and Fig. 2, an enlarged end view of the conveyor taken from theright of Fig. 1.

By reference to the aforesaid Fig. 1, A indicates a flue through whichcotton is drawn from wagons by suction in the usual manner and depositedin the receiving box B; the air passing out through the screened top B.On account of dan er from fire a cotton storage house is usual y placedabout one hundred feet from the gin, and the receiving box B ispreferably located outside, and adjacent to the in building, at somedistance from the grounf.

C is a conveyer box, upon one end of which the receiving box rests; theother end of the conveyor extends to within the storage house D asshown, thus providing a conveyor of considerable length; and within it,near the ends are mounted for rotation rollers E and E that extendtransversely from one side of the conveyer to the other and in whichopposite sides they are journaled; they carry an endlessapron a thattravels horizontally in the direction indicated by the dart; motionbeing imarted to it through pulley F secured to roller B, and drivenfrom any convenient point by belt G. In lieu of rollers, pulley andbelt, sprocket wheels and chain may be used.

The endless apron would preferably be made of thin, narrow slats of woodsecured in a suitable manner to link chains or stri s of leather, theslats being spaced a slig t distance apart to admit of the passage ofdirt or any foreign matter that would be sifted from the cotton in itsassage through the conveyer. The 11' per old of a ron a drags along u onthe oor or bottom that extends neary from one end to the other of theconveyer; the bottom fold of apron is carried by rollers I arranged atsuitable distances apart.

6 are slats secured at regular intervals to the inner side of apron (1,,and when the apron is traveling they dra along upon the bottom Hcarrying the dirt that sifts through the apron to the end of bottom,whence it dro s to the slats of the lower fold of apron a an is carriedback to the brush J which causes it to pass between the slats of apron aand into the hopper K, which conducts it through pipe L to a waste pileor other suitable lace of deposit. meta, hinged to the sides of theconveyor near the top, fitting loosely within same, and when cotton iscarried against it by the apron it rises sufliciently to admit of thecotton passing, but not enough to permit the free escape of gas or otherbleaching element c is a leaf of wood or nected with the source ofsupply of the bleachin medium (not shown) t at may be stations at anyconvenient point. The branch 6 leads into one or more bins in the cottonhouse D, near the floor and is pro vided with perforations e foradmitting bleaching fluid within the bins. The valves f and 9, controlthe supply to either the bins or conveyer.

The cotton to be treated is delivered under 1 the flue A, through whichit is drawn by suction in the usual manner into the receiving box B;this box having no bottom, permits of the cotton dro ping upon'the top 0traveling a ron a by w ch it is carried horizontally t irough the lengthof the conveyer C to the opposite end, where it drops into a bin in thecotton house D the valve f being open, and valve 9 closed, the space, inthe conveyer 0 between the floor H and top bleaching element whichwhitens the lint and other properties of seed cotton as it passes along.Considerable dirt and other foreign matter will be sifted from thecotton during its passage through the conveyer C, all of which will passbetween the slats comprising the apron a to the floor I-I, along whichit is scraped to the end of the floor by the transverse slats b, whenceit falls to the lower fold of the a ron a, and is carried back to thebrush J t at swee s it from the slats through which it falls into opperK, whence it is conducted by pipe L to any convenient place.

is filled with a' Cotton may be deposited by my conveyer,

or by other means 1n bins within the house D, and there subjected to thebleaching element at any convenient time by closing valve f and openingvalve 9, thus conducting the bleaching compound to the cotton bins.

I do not claim any particular bleaching compound, or any articularmethod of producing the same; ut

What I do claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. The combination with a cotton receiving receptacle, of a casingextending from such receptacle to a place of storage, an open-workconveyer in said casing to act as a sifter for the cotton during itstravel thereon, means for conducting off the waste matter sifted fromthe cotton, flexibly arranged closures to partition off a portion of theconveyer, and means for su plying a bleaching agent to the portion 0 theconveyer so artitioned off.

2. A b caching apparatus comprising a receptacle to receive thematerial, a casing leading from said receptacle, a conveyer in saidreceptacle, flexibly mounted closures in the casing to partition ofi aortion of the conveyer, and means for sup ying ableaching agent to theportion of t e conveyer so partitioned OH.

3. A bleaching apparatus comprising a receptacle, a casing leading fromsaid receptacle, a conveyer in said casing, said conveyer adapted tosift the material in its passage thereover, means to convey ofl suchsiftings, means for supplying a bleaching agent to the conveyer, andmeans to prevent the free escape of the bleaching agent from theconveyer.

. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses. V

JON. B. BRENNAN. Witnesses:

WESLEY P. JOLLEY,

WILLIs KIDD.

